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British man sentenced to death in Pakistan 'barely lucid'

A British pensioner sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy is in urgent need of mental health treatment, legal charity Reprieve has said. Lawyers for Mohammed Asghar told the charity he appeared "pale, dehydrated, shaking and barely lucid."

British man sentenced to death in Pakistan 'barely lucid'

A British pensioner sentenced to death in Pakistan for blasphemy is in urgent need of mental health treatment, legal charity Reprieve has said.

Lawyers for Mohammed Asghar told campaigners at the charity Reprieve that he was in very poor health and appeared "pale, dehydrated, shaking and barely lucid."

Asghar was arrested in 2010 near Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, for claiming to be the Prophet Mohammed.

He was convicted last week but his family is appealing for him to be released from custody in order to receive medical help as he suffers from mental illness and was treated for paranoid schizophrenia in Edinburgh before returning to Pakistan in 2010.

"We are extremely worried about Mr Asghar's mental health, which appears to have seriously deteriorated," said Maya Foa, director of Reprieve's death penalty team, adding he is being put in "a perilous position" without correct medication.